In one of those strange confluences of life, especially the life of the mind, I promised Erik Kieser yesterday that I would (at long last) finish The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart by Peter J. Gomes.  (Thus enabling Erik to borrow the book.)  The section I'm reading today is "The Bible and Science."

In it, Gomes argues that the two (science and the bible) essentially have nothing to do with each other.  The bible is not written from a scientific viewpoint and in fact doesn't mention science (as a discipline) at all.  Similarly, science does not have much to say about the bible or matters of faith.

Then today, in the LA Times, is a tenderly written piece about Darwin and his wife--she a believer, he a scientist--and how they made their marriage work despite their disagreement on what she termed the "most important subject."

As a woman of faith who is fighting cancer from both a position of science (using chemotherapy and nutrition and many more medications than I thought I'd ever use) and from a position of prayer and faith, I find that I agree with Gomes.  These two disciplines are not in opposition.  While it's true that there is much about diet, spirituality and other complementary ways of dealing with cancer that doesn't even form a blip on our oncological radar these days, there are also some who have no faith at all in science and would urge a strictly faith-based approach.

As usual, I choose the middle path...the third way.  I believe in God.  Who created scientists and doctors.  Who made these chemotherapies and targeted drugs to help people like me, with colon cancer.  And I believe too in the God who works miracles every day.  Even small ones.  Like the company of friends and the ability to enjoy a gorgeous day.

Which is not to say I'm not praying for a big miracle.  I just don't see why there's an either/or to faith and science rather than an enlarging of each by the other.

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